Howdy, I'm new here. I used to be a 3dfx fanboy back when they were pumping out 3d cards like there was no tomorrow. Well, when Nvidia made the switch to 32 bit color and 3dfx decided it wasn't important yet (morons) they lost big time. I kept my 3dfx card for about 2 years I guess after that and just recently decided to go to ATI. I tried 3 ATI cards and they were horrible, and not just on my computer. So I gave them away....then I got a Geforce 4 Ti 4400 from MSI, but I didn't have an AGP pro port, so I got a MSI Xtasy Geforce 2 400 MX. ANd well, I have to say that after using Nvidia, you never go back. Oh and I've used the Geforce 4 on my new rig which is still being built, but I'm gonna sell it off and wait on the NV30. The NV30 is making the move to .13 and ATI is still on .15. It's gonna be like the 3dfx death for ATI. Nvidia should just buy them out and take whatever technology they have and actually put it to use, becuase we know nobody else will. Well...call me an nvidiot all you want...before then a dead 3dfx fanboy and not to mention soon to be dead ATI fanboy! hahahaha. Ok, I'll stop now!

3dfx.. bah! I have only ever owned 1 3dfx card, and I was never impressed.

I turned into an Nvidiot when the Diamond Viper Riva 128 was released... Never turned back. Although, with all the rave reviews the 8500 was getting when it was released, I bought one of those, and took it back within 24 hours because of stability issues, and Image quality problems.

ATi is not going the way of 3dFX! Geez... It takes a long time to bring down a company like ATi. Not just one product!

Your post was mostly pure garbage, as ATi will have a card out 4 months before the NV30, and make huge sales. Not too mention, the R350 coming out soon after the NV30. Unless you've used a Radeon 8500 within the last 6 months, don't talk trash a bout ATi!

Actually that is not true. I have owned an 8500 - 64MB retail and i was very impressed with its overall performance. Its IQ in win2000 was fantastic but the only issue i really had with it were the drivers(have improved over time). The drivers have affected many peoples opinions and this is going to have to be corrected with their next tier of cards. If this is not done well that will surely kick another stick in the spokes. (excuse possible errors in spelling)

Hehe.. all kidding aside... I would buy a 9700 if it was out many months before the NV30. The NV30 is gonna destroy the 9700 though, AND Nvidia has a die shrink jump ahead of ATI.

If ATI had a better product, most of us would own it. Same goes for people who talk trash about Windows.. If there was a better OS out there, people would be using it. As it stands, for user friendliness, and support... Microsoft is pretty much the only option.

Kinda like Nvidia is the only option for the top performance. An 8500 simply cannot, and will not ever be able to compare to a Ti4600. Who knows if the same will be able to be said about 9700 vs NV30. But, I know where Im putting my money